This little known story has met a just conclusion, as Sophia Stewart, African American author of The Matrix will finally receive her just due from the copyright infringement of her original work!!!

Monday, October 4th 2004 ended a six-year dispute involving Sophia Stewart, the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers. Stewart's allegations, involving copyright infringement and racketeering, were received and acknowledged by the Central District of California, Judge Margaret Morrow residing. Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood, as the gross receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion dollars. Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript , "The Third Eye," copyrighted in 1981.

In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works. According to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film, in an attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The investigation also stated that "credible witnesses employed at Warner Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the Wachowski Brothers."

These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart's original work and that it had been "often used during pre preparation of the motion pictures." The defendants tried, on several occasions, to have Stewart's case dismissed, without success. Stewart has confronted skepticism on all sides, much of which comes from Matrix fans, who are strangely loyal to the Wachowski Brothers. One on-line forum, entitled Matrix Explained has an entire section devoted to Stewart. Some who have researched her history and writings are open to her story. Others are suspicious and mocking. "It doesn't bother me," said Stewart in a phone interview last week, "I always knew what was true."

Some fans, are unaware of the case or they question its legitimacy, due to the fact that it has received little to no media coverage. Though the case was not made public until October of 2003, Stewart has her own explanation, as quoted at www.daghettotymz.com/matrix/matrix.html :

"The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because Warner Brothers parent company is AOL-Time Warner... this GIANT owns 95 percent of the media... let me give you a clue as to what they own in the media business... Ne w York Times papers/magazines, LA Times papers/magazines, People Magazine, CNN news, Extra, Celebrity Justice, EntertainmentTonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, Dreamworks, Newsweek, Village Roadshow..many, many more!...

They are not going to report on themselves. They have been suppressing my case for years..." Fans who have taken Stewart's allegations seriously, have found eerie mythological parallels, which seem significant in a case that revolves around the highly metaphorical and symbolic Matrix series. Sophia, the Greekgoddess of wisdom has been referenced many times in speculation about Stewart.

In one book about the Goddess Sophia, it reads, "The black goddess is the mistress of web creation spun in her divine matrix" Although there have been outside implications as to racial injustice ! ( Stewart is African American), she does not feel that this is the case. "This is al about the Benjamins," said Stewart. "It's not about money with me. It's about justice." Stewart's future plans involve a record label, entitled Popsilk Records, and a motion picture production company, All Eyez On Me, in reference to God. "

I wrote The Third Eye to wake people up, to remind them why God put them here. There's more to life than money," said Stewart. "My whole to the world is about God and good and about choice, about spirituality over 'technocracy'." If Stewart represents spirituality, then she truly has prevailed over the "technocracy" represented in both the Terminator and the Matrix, and now, ironically, by their supposed creators.

Stewart is currently having discussions with CBS about a possible exclusive story and has several media engagements in the near future to nationally publicize her victory. June 13th 2004. Sophia Stewart's press release read: "The Matrix & Terminator movie franchises have made world history and have ultimately changed the way people view movies and how Hollywood does business, yet the real truth about the creator and creation of these films continue to elude the masses because the hidden secret of the matter is that these films were created and written by a Black woman... a Black woman named Sophia Stewart.

No, Sophia Stewart, an African-American writer who claims the the Wachowski brothers stole The Matrix Trilogy from her, never won a copyright infringement suit against the pair. Neither has her claim that the Terminator was stolen from her ever had traction.
For some reason, Stewart didn't show up to court on her big day in June 2005, and the judge ruled against her. Yet, this story of her wining the lawsuit continues to be reported on websites as fact.
It came to the African-American Books Examiner's attention today that Stewart's long-ago debunked story still circulates the web when she opened email this morning. She understands how people so easily believe Stewart's tale. For one, it's usually presented as a new story and this writer once bought the erroneous reports of a win herself. Next, people love a good David-beats-Goliath story. However, the Af-Am Examiner says, "Think on this Stewart story some more."
Had Stewart, who claims the movies are based on her 1981 short story "The Third Eye," actually won her case, considering how much money both The Matrix Trilogy and The Terminator earned, the victory story would have been all over the evening news, in major newspapers and on Oprah in 2005. Not only would that have happened, but Stewart would be well-known in creative communities. In addition, no matter her race, if it had been proven that she had ideas for two blockbusters series, she'd have been picked up by a studio, even if it was Tyler Perry's studio or a Spike Lee Joint.
The hottest color of Hollywood is green. People with blockbuster money ideas do not get tossed aside. Producers would want to tap Stewart to see if lightning strikes thrice even if they had to record sessions with her so they could prove later they didn't steal anything.
Nevertheless, understanding that sometimes a person may have a once-in-a-lifetime story that slips away from her or him, here is a link to Sophia Stewart's legal documentation. She is being promoted as "The Mother of the Matrix."
Winning a copyright infringement case against a studio is nearly impossible. While humorist Art Buchwald sued Paramount over Eddie Murphy's Coming to America and won, it's rare to triumph over Hollywood studios because of the high number of people who claim studios stole their ideas but have no real proof. After awhile, cries that "Hollywood stole my idea" start to sound like shouts of "I'm innocent" behind prison bars. A few people have a righteous cause. Most, however, are lying to themselves.
Furthermore, as serious, working writers know, if you don't have proof of theft, your new work will reflect that you possess the skill and talent to have produced the work you say was stolen. However, with the history of African-Americans in the book publishing industry, in Hollywood, in America being what it is, a history of under-appreciation and worse, it's understandable why so many African-Americans believe without question that Stewart got the shaft.What's the truth about Sophia Stewart's case?
As explained at Snopes.com, the rumor that she won started after a college student made a huge error in a story for her college newspaper.

A less than accurate newspaper article about Stewart and her case caused many to believe the woman claiming authorship had won her copyright infringement suit and was about to receive a multi-billion dollar settlement. This 28 October 2004 article, penned by a second-year communications student for the Salt Lake Community College Globe, erred in mistaking Stewart's 4 October 2004 successful counter to a dismissal motion for her having prevailed in her suit. The article asserted Stewart "will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels" and would "soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood." What Stewart had won was the right to proceed with her case, but nothing more.

The Globe subsequently posted the following correction:

In reference to the recent article entitled "Mother of the Matrix Victorious," some information has been deemed misleading. Ms. Sophia Stewart has not yet won her case against Joel Silver, Time Warner and the Wachowski Bros. The decision on October 4th enabled Ms. Stewart to proceed with her case, as all attempts to have it dismissed were unsuccessful. Ms. Stewart's case will proceed through the Central District Court of California.
Thanks,
The Globe Staff​

In November 2009, some web-based news sites erroneously republished outdated (and inaccurate) articles from 2004 claiming that Sophia Stewart had won her case.

As said at the beginning of this article, when she later had her day in court, Stewart was absent. Read the full story's debunking at Snopes.com.
The African-American Books Examiner leaves room for a shadow of doubt in Stewart's favor, but as a writer herself who knows the challenges writers face, she would tell Stewart if you get knocked down, stop dwelling on what could have been. Stand up, move forward, keep writing. Show the world you have more in you than what you think you've lost.
While The Third Eye, Volume I was published as a book in 2006, it's four years later, actually more than 20 years if you consider when Stewart says she wrote the short story and the world has no more work from the Mother of the Matrix, and we've heard no more from the author/paralegal. In this era of self-publishing, where is Volume 2?
Yes,

have jumped high to champion Stewart and readily believe whatever conspiracy theories are presented on her behalf, but if you want to nourish her as a black writer, a better message for Stewart all these years later would be this one: Stop being known as the victim of theft. Get back to writing and publishing. Start being known as the creator of fresh visions, new stories. Prevail by the pen! Related story: "Terminator is actually a drama!" Sophia Stewart "

lost her bid​

to get Oscar-nominated director James Cameron and the men behind production company Halcyon Holding Group LLC arrested.​